Nagorno Karabakh (the historical name "Artsakh")
occupies the eastern and southeastern mountainous regions of Caucasus
Minor, which forms the northeastern part of the Armenian Highlands.
It stretches from the mountains that surround Lake Sevan to the east
to the Yeraskh (Araks) river.

Nagorno Karabakh has been referred to under a variety
of names during different historical periods: Urtekhe-Urtekhini, Orkhistene,
Artsakh, Tsavdek, Khachen and Karabakh.

The first evidence of the ancient history of the region
date back to the Acheul period of early Palaeolith (500 - 100 thousand
years ago). Ancient tools and osteological materials, found in the caves
of Vorvan-Azokh, Tsakhach, Unot and Khoradzor date back to that time
period. The maxilla of a Neanderthal man, discovered in Vorvan-Azokh,
holds special significance in tracing the anthropogenes process.

Excavations of settlements and burials of the bronze
and iron ages (Stepanakert, Khodjalu, Krkzhan, Amaras, Mataghis, the
valleys of Khachenaget and Ishkhanaget) testify that this territory
was part of the area where the Kuro-Araks culture originated and functioned
in the 4-3 millennium B.C.

Large burial mounds (Stepanakert, Khachenaget valley)
dating to the 3rd millennium B.C. have a unique value for the Hindo-European
studies of the Caucasus region. According to a number of researchers,
these burial mounds represent the first shred of evidence regarding
the ancient activity of the Hindo-Europeans.

Artsakh was in the Assyria's and Urartu's sphere of
political and cultural influence during the beginning of the first millennium
B.C. A bead and a carnelian bearing Assyrian king's name, Adad-Nirari,
have been discovered. A cuneiform inscription of the Urartu king Sardur
II, discovered near the village of Tsovk, is proof that his troops reached
the country of Urtekhini (Artsakh).

The state of Urartu, which was referred to as the
Ararat Kingdom in the Holy Bible, and its tribes are particularly important
in the history of the Armenian people. After the fall of the Urartu
Kingdom in the early 6th century B.C., Armenian ethnic groups began
to play an active role in the region. Formation of the first Armenian
kingdom dates back to this time. From its creation, the Armenian kingdom
was forced to resist the Mediyan rule. In 550-331 B.C., the kingdom,
which included Artsakh, fell under the rule of Akemenid Persia.

The borders of the state of Armenia, formed by the
Artashesid dynasty in the early 2nd century B.C. fell followed the Kura
River. According to a number of Greek-Roman and Armenian ancient authors,
these were also the northeastern borders of the Armenian ethnic element.
The Aranshahiks ruled Artsakh, which was a part of the Armenian kingdom.
According to a legend regarding the origin of Armenians, Aran, the patriarch
of this kin, was a descendent of Haik, the forefather of Armenians.

In the middle of the 1st century B.C., Armenia became
the most powerful state in the Asia Front. Armenian King Tigran Mets
(Tigran the Great), attached great significance to Artsakh and built
the town of Tigranakert in Artsakh, one of only four towns that bore
bore his name. Ruins of this town are in the vicinity of the present-day
town of Agdam. Burial mounds, stone sculptures and holy sites carved
into rocks survive today.

In 66-428 A.D., Artsakh was a part of the Arshakids
Armenian kingdom. After its collapse, and Armenia's division between
Persia and Byzantium, Artsakh was annexed to the Albanian kingdom, situated
to the north of the river Kura. In 46,9 the kingdom was transformed
into a Persian marzpanutyun retaining the name Albania (Aran in Persian).

In the beginning of the 4th century A.D., Christianity
spread in Artsakh. The creation of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop Mashtots
in the early 5th century, led to an unprecedented rise of culture in
both Armenia and Artsakh. Mesrop Mashtots founded the first Armenian
school in the Artsakh monastery of Amaras.

In the 5th century the eastern part of Armenia, including
Artsakh, remained under Persian rule. In 451, Armenians waged a powerful
revolt, known as the Vardanants war, in response to Persia's policy
of conversion of Armenians to Zoroastrism. Artsakh took part in the
war, during which its cavalry distinguished itself. After the suppression
of the revolt, a considerable part of Armenian forces took shelter in
the unreachable fortresses and thick forests of Artsakh to continue
thier struggle against the foreign Persian yoke. At the end of the same
century Artsakh and neighboring Utik united under the rule of Vachagan
the Devout, an Aranshahik (487-510 A.D.). During his reign, Artsakh
experienced a considerable growth in culture and science. As evidenced
by one of the authors of that period, as many churches and monasteries
were built as days in a year.

At the turn of the 6th and 7th centuries A.D., the
Albanian "marzpanutyun" broke into several small principalities,
which were no longer collectively referred to as "Albania."

Artsakh and Utik create a separate Armenian principality
of the Aranshahiks. In the 7th century, Armenian Aranshahiks were replaced
by the Mihranian dynasty of Persia, which converted rapidly converted
to Christianity due to significant intermarriages.

In the second half of the 7th century, the political
and cultural life in Artsakh continued to develop. In the 7th-8th centuries,
a distinctive Christian culture was being shaped in Artsakh. The monasteries
of Amaras, Orek, Katarovank, Djrvshtik and others acquire significant
importance for Armenians.

From the beginning of the 7th century, noble houses
of Khachen and Dizak gathered strength. The Prince of Khachen, Sahl
Smbatian, and the Prince of Dizak,Yesayee Abu Mousseh, spearhead the
struggle against Arabs. They, and later their heirs, succeed in making
their borders unconquerable.

From the 10th century on, the Khachen principality
began playing an immense political and cultural role in Artsakh. In
the 11th and 12th centuries, Artsakh or Khachen was subjected to the
invasion of nomadic Seljuk Turks, but managed to maintain their independence.

At the end of the 12th century and during the first
half of the 13th century, Artsakh flourished. Valuable architectural
ensembles such as the Hovhannes Mkrtich (John the Baptist) church, the
portico of Gandzasar Monastery (1216-1260), the Dadi Monastery Cathedral
(1214), and Gtchavank Cathedral (1241-1248) were built. All of these
churches continue to be regarded as masterpieces of Armenian architecture.

In 1230-1240 the Tatar-Mongols conquered Transcaucasia.
Due to the efforts of the Prince Hasan-Djalal, Artsakh partially succeeded
in saving itself from destruction. However, after his death in 1261,
Khachen also fell victim of Tatar-Mongols. The situation became worse
in the 14th century during the Turkic rule of Kara-Koyunly and Agh-Koyunly
tribes, which replaced the Tatar-Mongols. In that period many monuments
and architectural wonders were destroyed. During this time period, the
area began to be known as Karabakh.

In the 16th century, a number of unique administrative-political
entities called melikutyuns (principalities) were formed in Karabakh.
The rulers of melikutyuns were called Meliks (a Semite word, meaning
"crowned head"). Further melikutyuns were united into five
larger ones: Varanda, Khachen, Dizak, Jraberd, Gyullistan and became
known as "Melikutyuns of Khamsa" (Arabic word for five).

In the 16-17th centuries, Artsakh Meliks spearheaded
the liberation struggle of the Armenians against the Shah of Persia
and the Sultan of Turkey. Along with the armed struggle Artsakh, meliks
sent envoys to Europe and Russia asking for help from the Christian
West.

In the middle of the 18th century, Panakh, one of
the leaders of a Turkic tribe took advantage of the feudal struggle
among the Karabakhi meliks and bunkered down in the Shushi fortress
with the assistance of Varanda Melik Shahnazar II. He proclaimed Karabakh
to be a khanate and himself - a khan. The Persian Court supported this
move. The rights of local meliks were restricted. Penetration of Artsakh
by foreign ethnic elements began, which later led to the change of its
ethnic composition.

In the late 18th - early 19th century, the Russian
Empire began to play a more active role in the region. As a result of
the Russian-Persian war of 1804-13, Persia forever surrendered most
of the Caucasus to Russia, including the Karabakh and Gandzak khanates.
The treaty affirming this was signed on October 12, 1813, in the Artsakh
fortress of Gulistan. This treaty which the groundwork for Russia's
presence in the Transcaucasus.

The new Russian-Persian war of 1827-28 ended with
the treaty of Turkmenchay on February 10, 1828. According to the treaty,
Yerevan and Nakhichevan khanates, as well as the Ordubad province were
given to Russia. This completed the annexation of almost the entirity
of Eastern Armenia to Russia.

In 1840, Czarist Russia changed the administrative
division of Transcaucasia and as the result, the Georgian-Imeret gubernia
(Russian word for "province") centered in Tiflis, and the
Caspian gubernia centered in Shamakha emerged. The Georgian-Imeret province
included the bulk of the eastern Armenian territory, while a smaller
part, including Karabakh, was incorporated into the Caspian province.

In the second half of 1840s, as a result of yet another
administrative division, the Tiflis, Kutaisi, Shamakha and Derbent provinces
were created. The Eastern Armenian territories were incorporated into
the first three provinces, each with the status of a separate province.
Derbent province included some parts of the Transcaucasus.

The December 9, 1867 Charter of the Czarist
Russia divided the Transcaucasus into Kutaisi, Tiflis, Yerevan, Yelizavetpol
and Baku provinces. Some parts of Eastern Armenia were incorporated
into the Yerevan province, the others into the Yellizavetpol and Tiflis
provinces. This administrative division remained until 1918.